January 22 Presscast to Highlight Important Research From the 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Five noteworthy studies from the 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium will be featured in an embargoed presscast for reporters on Tuesday, January 22, 2013, from 12:00-1:30 PM (EST). Highlighted studies will focus on the latest advances being made in the screening and treatment of several gastrointestinal cancers. The presscast will be moderated by Neal Meropol, MD, a gastrointestinal cancers expert and member of the 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium News Planning Team and ASCO’s Cancer Communications Committee.

During the presscast, which will be held via live teleconference and webinar, researchers will present results from the following five studies:

Development and validation of a new diagnostic classification system based on gene expression patterns in tumors of patients with colorectal cancer (Josep Tabernero, MD, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)

Results from a study that assessed whether surgery to remove residual tumors after imatinib therapy improved survival among patients with recurrent or metastatic GIST (Seong Joon Park, MD, University of Ulsan, Seoul, South Korea)

A study that looked at the utility of pharmacogenomic modeling to predict chemotherapy response and resistance in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (Vineet Sangar, PhD, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA)

Results from a Phase III study of survival with docetaxel versus active symptom control in patients with advanced esophago-gastric adenocarcinoma whose disease progressed after first line chemotherapy (Hugo Ford, MD, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Gastrointestinal cancers include those of the colon/rectum, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, small intestine, anus and other digestive organs. In 2012 an estimated 285,000 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with these cancers, and an estimated 142, 000 have died from them.1

This year’s Symposium will take place January 22-24, 2013, at The Moscone West Building in San Francisco and feature nearly 600 abstracts on the latest research in gastrointestinal cancers. On-site facilities for reporters will include a working newsroom and access to leading experts in gastrointestinal cancers.

Media Registration: To register to attend the meeting or participate in the presscast, visit ASCO’s online Media Headquarters. The deadline to register for the presscast is Friday, January 18. Please note: If you were already credentialed for the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting or Breast Cancer Symposium, you will automatically receive the presscast login information and do not have to register again. For further assistance please contact Nicole Racadag at mediaregistration@asco.org or 571-483-1354. News and other information about the Symposium is available.